The week ahead, 9/6-9/12

What a week! I am bushed. Fortunately, all I did today was relax and nap, and the only thing on my plate tomorrow is some loge action at Progressive Field. In the meantime, if you have more energy tonight than I do and at 8:30 PM are surfing blogs to find out what's up, check out the Tony Furtado show at the Waterloo Cafe. I'd be there if I wasn't too exhausted to move. Read onward for my personal recommendations for the next week.

Monday, 9/7 - Go see Tetro at the Cedar-Lee before it leaves theaters and on reduced price day. This is Coppola's first original screenplay since The Conversation and by all accounts his best work at least since The Godfather and perhaps rivals that!



Tuesday, 9/8 - Interesting quasi-scholarly lecture at Mac's Backs featuring David Swanson, a former Kucinich presidential campaign press secretary and ACORN leader. Given the credentials, you can guess the perspective, but that doesn't mean it will be wrong or uninteresting. Swanson will be discussing his latest book, Daybreak: Undoing the Imperial Presidency and Forming a More Perfect Union. More information is available here.

Wednesday, 9/9 - Assuming you don't feel like doing the patriotic duty thing and staying home to watch President Obama kick the slackers, obfuscators, and obstructionists in the US Congress into gear on some serious health care reform, there are some other good events going on, especially over at the Cleveland Museum of Art. From 5:30-9 they'll be having another of there Art On Tap events (think yuppies, free beer, and tours of the gallery) AND screening a really intriguing looking documentry, Ice People, about geologists in Antarctica at 7 PM.



Thursday, 9/10 - One of the first cool things I went to as a new resident of Cleveland in 2007 was a Zaireeka listening party put on by Music Saves. Zaireeka is the mythical 4-album record put out by The Flaming Lips in 1997. Quadruple albums may be rare, although not unheard of - but this one takes the cake since ALL FOUR ALBUMS ARE MEANT TO BE PLAYED SIMULTANEOUSLY. This Thursday, Kevin and Melanie bring out the albums for another listening party, and if you weren't there for the first one, believe me when I strenuously suggest you don't miss this one. (Those of us who were there last time will definitely be back for more.) Check out this event and enjoy the indie rock moment.



Waterloo Road should be hopping that night as it is the penultimate occurrence of the recent Walk All Over Waterloo series that has been going on lately. Shoparooni and Low Life will continue their wiffle ball warfare and this will give you a chance to catch the delightful Fun with Dick and Jane exhibition currently gracing the walls of the Shoparooni Annex.


Friday, 9/11 - This Friday features a pair of stellar gallery openings, including a really wonderful series of exhibitions at SPACES (I'm particularly looking forward to seeing Jiri Suruvka's work).

Saturday, 9/12 - Unlike Friday, where the emphasis is on the visual arts, Saturday will treat your auditory senses. Start out the afternoon with a performance by local artist Noon at Heavenly Hardware in Tremont, then head to Collinwood for a pair of wild and wonderful performances at the Beachland: Polka Floyd in the Ballroom and Ramona Falls in the Tavern.

As wonderful as Polka Floyd sounds (Pink Floyd hits covered by a polka troupe from Chardon), Ramona Falls is the true nugget of wonder. The stage name for Brent Knopf of Menomena fame, Ramona Falls released its debut album, Inuit, a few weeks ago and I cannot use enough hyperbolic adjectives to tell you how tremendous it is. Simply stated: it is the clear front-runner for the Cleveland Bachelor Album of the Year award. (Check out a review I posted last month on Citizen Dick here.) There is not another competitor even in the same zip code of this competition. Miss this one at your cultural peril. The depth and beauty of this album is simply incomparable.



Other stuff to keep your eye on the following week:

- 9/13 - Ra Ra Riot/Maps & Atlases at the Grog Shop
- 9/14 - A Hawk & a Hacksaw at the Beachland
- 9/14 - Poetry night at the Waterloo Cafe
- 9/15 - Addicted to Vinyl and Broken Headphones present a Greg Ginn (Black Flag, SST Records) FREE in-store at Blue Arrow Records
- 9/16 - Circulatory System at the Grog Shop
- 9/17 - Autolux at the Beachland
- 9/17 - Kate Greenstreet/Rebecca Wolff reading at CSU
- 9/18 - Sondre Lerche at the Beachland
- 9/18 - Buried Wires/Afternoon Naps at the Happy Dog
- 9/19 - Alien/Aliens double feature at the CIA Cinematheque